


Be My Blood

by crescenttwins



Series: Yakuza!AU [3]
Category: Code Geass
Genre: Alternate Universe - Yakuza, Multi, Yakuza
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-10
Updated: 2014-05-02
Packaged: 2018-01-08 04:50:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1128537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crescenttwins/pseuds/crescenttwins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Assorted drabbles set prior to "Silk and Steel", primarily to focus on Genbu's ascension to oyabun and child!Suzaku.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nagisa Chiba

**Author's Note:**

> Nagisa joins the Kururugi clan.

When Genbu Kururugi is seventeen years old, he is hit by a car on his way back from an arranged marriage meeting.  He is unconscious for thirteen days, and in order to mend his legs they put bars of steel through them.  His right arm is broken in five places; his left wrist shattered when it hit the ground.  They fear he will be paralyzed from the waist down.

More than that, they fear that this will break him, will spit on his pride and turn him into a bitter man.  

(In the months to come, they will swallow back their words and watch Genbu force himself to walk, proving his blood by determination if not by strength.) 

The clan creates shifts to watch the hospital and their young master's room: days flow into the next like water pushing through a pipe, relentless.  On the tenth day, the Kururugi _oyabun_ visits for the first time.  He brings with him a young girl with hair chopped short.

"Look, Genbu." The man says, stroking his son's hand.  "This is Nagisa Chiba." He smiles, a strange twist to his lips, like he's smiling around something bitter. He pulls Nagisa closer to the bed. "We were going to bring you the man's pinky, but he offered me his prized pupil instead."  The man leans in closer, whispering softly, "They say when you wake up, you won't have enough strength in those hands of yours to ever hold a sword again.  _Prove them wrong."_

The room is stifling, the sound of the monitors barely covering the chatter from the next room as there is a chasm of silence.

To Nagisa, he says, "Do take care of him, won't you, dear? Then we can discuss the role you will take."  His eyes focus on hers, abrupt and dark. "If he dies, I will break your blade and have you walk naked through the streets."  She nods, a tiny dip of her head, and he laughs.  "Excellent." 

She shudders away from his pat to the shoulder; he leaves quickly, men in black suits a half step behind.  

Nagisa walks to the window to watch him get in a car and drive away.  When the car disappears behind the gate, she looks at the quiet body on the bed, and says, "If indeed you awaken, I will pledge my sword to your path." She grips the empty space at her waist, bowing her head.  "This I swear."

She bows to him, this unconscious boy, and stares at the white floor until her neck aches and still it isn't enough to remove the stain of her master's foolishness.

(And Nagisa will thrive, because when Genbu wakes up broken, she devotes herself to the clan in repentance, rising up in rank until her name is synonymous with strength and loyalty, with _Kururugi.)_


	2. Meeting Senba

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genbu Kururugi meets Ryoga Senba for the first time on his fourteenth birthday.

Genbu Kururugi meets Ryoga Senba for the first time on his fourteenth birthday.  The other male is older by one year, and his grip is heavy and calloused; dry. He is young but already wears a blade at his waist, a sign that he is not in training or assisting, but a force in his own right: Genbu has never been so envious.

 He clenches a hand (his palm is still so soft, like a civilian's), and tries not to stare too obviously where his father has a proud hand on Ryoga's shoulder.  

Genbu accepts the well wishes of his clan members, and he smiles when some of the daughters of members want to take pictures with him.  He stands near them (never too close, he doesn't want to marry them), and folds his arms.  Genbu looks dignified when his arms are folded, he knows, because he's seen the Kururugi _oyabun_ enough times in the pose.  When the girl thanks him, he smiles back as best he can, and sighs as he watches her leave.

"Is that a sad sigh, or a 'thank goodness that's over' sigh?" An amused voice breaks into his thoughts, accompanied by a gentle shove to the shoulder.

Genbu jerks away, ready to scold this presumptuous person, but it is Senba (not Ryoga yet; it will be 42 days before Senba becomes Ryoga).  So instead, he tries to freeze his face before it can be a scowl, and the other boy just laughs at him.

"What a pout! No wonder the girls won't leave you alone."

Genbu stares at him unhappily.  

"Well," Senba says, adjusting the sword at his belt and smoothing his hair, "I suppose if I had a face like that, I wouldn't have trained so much!"  He grins, like they're friends.  Genbu sees his father turn to watch them, a pleased smile twisting his lips, so he tries to smile back.

"Good genes," Genbu says, and then tries not to scream. How awkward could he be?

Senba stares at him blankly for a moment, and then throws his head back and laughs.  Genbu peeks around the courtyard and people are staring; it 's embarrassing and he's about it excuse himself when Senba swings an arm around his shoulders.

"I didn't expect you to be so funny!" The other male says, "Since you were all alone with the girls, I thought you would be extremely awkward! I'm glad to see that's not the case."  He pats Genbu's shoulder. "Tell a joke."

Genbu stares at Senba in horror. "Ah, I-" His mouth feels like it's full of cotton, like there are only foolish things that are to come out next.  

"Ah, you are the sort whose jokes are only funny in context." Senba eyes him conspiratorially, "I suppose I should stick around to hear more, then?" He laughs again.  "What an interesting way to make people linger around you."

"You can't steal it!" Genbu blurts, and Senba tilts his head back and chortles.  

"Ah," Senba says, wiping a fake tear from his eye, "I don't think it would work as well for me as it does for you: I'm not so witty."

Genbu stares at him blankly, but he can't help the little puff of pride building in his chest.  And when Senba aims his camera at him, miming a shot, he calls over another clan member and lets Senba pull a funny face behind him. 

Later, the Kururugi _oyabun_ will pat his shoulder and say, _good thinking, that Senba has a lot of promise_ and the little puff of pride will become a heavy stone in his gut.


	3. White Lilies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The white lilies were her favorite, Genbu thinks. He had thought it so morbid, the moment she told him— these were funeral flowers, why would she want them on any date?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one has implied violence and gore, so be aware of possible triggers.

The white lilies were her favorite, Genbu thinks.  He had thought it so morbid, the moment she told him— these were _funeral_ flowers, why would she want them on any date?

She had laughed at him, her hands on her hips.  She had been silhouetted by the sun, light teasing its way through her hair and against her face.  She had been so young.

“I love lilies,” she had whispered against the bouquet in her arms, “ because they are the only flower that people give in truth.”  Genbu hadn’t understood, but she was so lovely against the flowers that he nodded and smiled—

And later on, when she pushed the bouquet into a man’s face who grabbed her, kicking out with enough strength to send him to the ground, Genbu thought that he could love her: this foolish woman who loved these flowers so much.  He thought of the money he has, saved away—thought of how she smiles.

He gave her one lily on every date, and Ryoga had snorted when he figured it out. 

“It’s not a very showy flower,” Ryoga had said, after a pause. “If you’re having trouble figuring out what women like, you know you’re welcome to ask me anytime, right?”  He had patted Genbu’s back and shoulders, nudging him towards the door.  “Women really like red roses, in my experience.  Maybe get her one of those?”

She had frowned when she saw the rose, and he gave her the lily instead.

“What’s the rose for, then?” She questioned, a strange hardness to her voice that he hadn’t expected.

He had thought about it, when he was handing her the lily.  What it would mean to wear such a rose. “I want others to know,” Genbu tucked the rose into his pocket, “that I am emotionally involved.” He had patted the flower, then, gently enough that it wouldn’t bruise the petals. “It is difficult to say such things without offending others.”

She had looked at him, and nodded, and paid for everything they did that night.

Genbu had let her, because despite the disapproving looks he got from the workers, she smiled at him every time.  And when he walked her to her clan’s complex, she kissed him on the cheek for the first time and plucked the rose out of his pocket.  

“Perhaps I am emotionally involved as well,” she said that night, lightly, and shut the door in his face.

He wondered what it would be like if she and Ryoga met. They would get along well, he hoped, because they are the two people he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.  He could build the Kururugi clan with them at his side; make it better, stronger and more honorable than his father ever had.  He could restore the integrity of their family name.  And Ryoga would be there, his sword and his general: the one man in the world that he could hand the clan to.  And she would be there too, his wife in name but his confidant in truth, his love and his treasure.  He could imagine their meeting: Ryoga would insult her and she would kick him in response— and if Genbu let them be, they would be friends by the end of an hour. He walked home, playing with the idea in his mind.  

When Genbu returned to the Kururugi compound, Ryoga accepted his offer of a drink for the first time in months.  Genbu laughed, teasing, and Ryoga had said, “Think of it as a test run of the drink I’ll have at your wedding.”  Genbu had flushed, he can remember the heat of his face, and Ryoga had laughed, long and hard until he choked, coughing.

“Don’t be so overdramatic,” Genbu had scolded, glad for the respite, and hid his burning face in his cup.

* * *

Three months later, Ryoga passed away of a disease that ravages the lungs, the result of a lifetime of inhaling smoke.   

Ryoga had never met her, the one who Genbu loved, but he had helped pick out her ring and the restaurant where Genbu had proposed.  

And when Genbu saw her, carrying the white lilies she adored so much, he could almost pretend it was just another date— 

But he is wearing black, and he must accept her condolences, and--

Ryoga is gone.

* * *

They get married, he and she, and they have a son.  

Toudou tells him that the boy is adept with the sword, a phenom— he says that the child is better than Ryoga at his age, and that Genbu should be truly proud. Genbu can only think of how easily Ryoga died.

And if he snaps at the child, it is normal: a boy should grow up strong and capable, not questioning his every step, not looking for external validation.  A leader must be able to pick his own path.  Let her have the child, he thinks, let her build him to be someone who can escape the poison remnants of his father’s Kururugi.  

Then she dies, on the streets to some punk’s explosive, and he is left with the boy who he has never tried to talk to and who wants answers he doesn’t have. Genbu calls the boy to his room, despite the exhaustion that lines his every breath, because he should at least try for his—his son.

“Death,” he says, swallowing around the thick air, “is normal.” He watches the tears run down the boy’s cheeks, lets him wipe them away.  When the child is sobbing, he continues, his voice a mere echo of the screaming in his head, “You are the heir of the Kururugi clan.  You will be the symbol that our sworn family look to, as they look to me; have pride in it.” He breathes out, “And we live in a bloody world.  Death will come and take them all away, if you are not strong enough to beat it back.”

“Why?” The boy— no, Suzaku, his _heir_ — cries.  

“Because we live in a world of monsters,” Genbu says, “and I was too weak.”

* * *

The day of the funeral is sunny.

Genbu fills a half-empty coffin with the white lilies that she loved.


	4. Accountant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There's this adorable kid, who comes by the dojo--" Ryoga says one day out of the blue. AKA the first time Genbu hears about Asahina

"There's this adorable kid, who comes by the  _dojo_ \--" Ryoga says one day out of the blue. "He came in, trailing after my hairdresser-- his mother-- and we roped him into the lesson the second time he got hit because he was too curious."  He's happy today, different than the cloud that's been bearing over him as of late; it makes him look younger, happier.

More like the man people call Ryoga, and less like the bloodied swordsman who is whispered about amongst the other clans.  (It made him proud, that Ryoga has been active in their war for only two months but is already likened to a _demon._ Fear is a mist that protects the Kururugi clan.)

Genbu adjusts his grip on his hilt, pushing Ryoga back.  Steel sings as two blades slide apart, and Ryoga sidesteps him, bringing his sword up easily to meet Genbu's neck, then swings it down to brush aside Genbu's fruitless swipe. Easy. When their swords meet again, Genbu's arms are straining, but his wrist is holding up, and a thrill creeps up his neck.  He glares at Ryoga, whose eyes are dancing in amusement-- the older male has caught Genbu's delight, sharing in it without his permission.  

"You don't have to take it easy on me," Genbu complains, out of habit more than anything else.

Ryoga smiles, like a blade slipping out of silk, and when Genbu blinks he hits the ground, his sword struck to the side.  

Genbu chokes, barely avoiding tearing into his own tongue, and Ryoga gently taps the side of his neck with the dull training blade. 

"Is that better, then?" The man says, face solemn. Grunting, Genbu pushes the blade away from his neck; Ryoga laughs and offers him a hand.  "You look exactly like  _he_ did when I knocked him to the ground!"

"Who?" Genbu asks, accepting the hand and pushing to his feet.  His sword landed in the pond again, he thinks, which means that if he leaves it for too long it will rot and his  _sensei_ will swat his ankles with the remains.  

"The boy who visited my family  _dojo_ ," Ryoga chastises, "I  _just_ told you about him."

"And what did he do after that? Cry and never want to come back?" Genbu asks, sarcasm staining his tongue, "Or did he idolize you, strongest warrior in the land?"  He moves his hand under the water, feeling for his sword. As his hand finally clasped around the blade, Genbu cried internally in delight.  

"Neither!" Ryoga responds, his voice absurdly fond that Genbu turns to look at him, "He picked up the sword again and tried to  _gut_ me." The older male laughs. "He would have succeeded, too, if it had been a real sword!"  His sword has been resheathed, and Genbu isn't sure how he missed that, but Ryoga is rubbing his belly.  "Hit hard for a little kid."

"That's actually...impressive," Genbu decides. "How old did you say that he was?"

"Asahina's twelve, with all the guts of someone who doesn't know the fear of death," Ryoga reports cheerfully. "I kicked him out the screen door by accident, and he got up and told me he wasn't paying for it.  Was very serious about it, and the minute I agreed he attacked me again."

"Has he any interest in the  _yakuza_?" Genbu wonders. From the sounds of it, the kid would be an excellent fit. The first one to nearly gut the demon of the Kururugi clan.

Ryoga laughs, the sound so bright it makes the others across the courtyard turn. "No, that's the best part! Guess what he wants to be!"

"A hairdresser," Genbu deadpans.

"Even better."

"Better?" 

"Yeah, it'll tell exactly how strange of a twelve year old he is."

"What does he want to be, Ryoga?" Genbu finally asks.  Ryoga will talk in circles until he asks.

Ryoga chortles through his response, but finally Genbu hears, "An _accountant."_  

**Author's Note:**

> The Yakuza!AU has so many aspects to it that I'm still discovering through these drabbles, so I hope you'll feel free to ask about anything you're interested in! :)


End file.
